It was the region’s dance support organization. A spokesperson for Dance Manchester said that as an “old school” company, the organisation was too reliant on public funding to remain “fit for purpose. We know now in the sector that you need more than that.” – Arts Professional
Category: dance
After 35 Years Of Performing, Tap Master Savion Glover Is Still Searching
“His post-rehearsal explanations kept coming out like Zen meditations: ‘Do you hear what you see? Or do you see what you hear? … What does the sound look like that you see when you are listening?'” – The New York Times
Watch Paul Taylor Dance Company Director Michael Novak At Work
“No one was more surprised than Novak when Taylor tapped him to be his successor last year, three months before the legendary choreographer died. Dance Magazine recently caught up with Novak during the company’s appearances at the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Bach Festival.” (video) – Dance Magazine
The So-Cal Native Who’s Giving Cambodian Classical Dance A Queer Twist
“[Prumsodun] Ok, a Long Beach, California, native whose parents were Cambodian refugees, not only restages traditional works of Khmer classical dance but also uses the stories and vocabulary of the ancient style to create new works that center LGBTQ+ characters and perspectives. In the process, he’s helped to revitalize and bring global attention to an art form that was nearly wiped out with the vast majority of its practitioners in the Khmer Rouge genocide of the late 1970s.” – Dance Magazine
London Specialist Dance Injury Clinic Abruptly Closes
The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital clinic had provided free specialist healthcare to more than 1300 dancers since 2012… RNOH’s plan to transfer care to other sports and exercise medicine centres sounded good in theory, “but we specifically chose them when we set up the clinic because of their expertise in orthopaedics”. – Arts Professional
How I Found A Studio For Merce Cunningham In Postwar Paris
Marianne Preger-Simon recounts how she saw the great choreographer perform in the French capital in 1949, and how she contrived to meet him — ultimately to become his first student and then a charter member of his dance company. – Literary Hub
Breakdancing Is About To Become An Olympic Sport
“Breakdancing moved a step closer to the 2024 Olympics on Tuesday, and now organizers can look to book a street venue in Paris. Called breaking in Olympic circles, its medal debut was last October at the Buenos Aires Youth Summer Games. The street dance competitions will have 16 athletes in each of the men’s and women’s medal events in Paris.” – Yahoo! (AP)
Two Houston Ballet Dancers To Lead Estonia’s National Ballet
First soloist Linnar Looris, a native son, has been named artistic director; Jared Matthews, who was a longtime soloist at ABT before coming to Houston as a principal dancer, will be assistant to the artistic director. – Pointe Magazine
What Happens To Modern Dance Companies — And What Happens To Modern Dance Itself — When The Founders Are Gone?
Joan Acocella: “A lot of modern-dance companies are talking about ‘legacy’ and trying to come up with ways to perpetuate it. Why? Well, the art form is more than a century old. Many modern-dance companies are now big institutions, prestigious features of our cultural landscape. If they disband, a ton of people will lose their jobs. More important, there will no longer be anyone to perform the dances properly, in the style passed down through generations of dancers. The work will cease to exist. It would be as if, when Rembrandt died, all his canvases were taken out into the back yard and burned.” – The New Yorker
Septime Webre Is Starting To Do For Hong Kong Ballet What He Did For Washington Ballet
In the two years he’s been artistic director of Hong Kong Ballet (where he arrived one year after leaving the same job in DC), Webre has added to the company’s repertoire, brought in high-profile guest artists, and seen subscriptions more than double. – Pointe Magazine